


Coffee with Coach

by little0bird



Series: When Jack's Heart Stopped [8]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Christmas in Madison, Jack and Coach getting to know one another, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 22:34:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21144323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little0bird/pseuds/little0bird
Summary: ‘So what do you do besides hockey?’  Rick sipped his coffee, taking a seat at the small table next to the door.Jack took in a deep breath.  He’s just trying to get to know you…





	Coffee with Coach

Jack shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Coach -- _ Rick _, he reminded himself, stood in front of the coffee pot, waiting for it to brew. Rick held up a mug with a jaunty Santa on the side. ‘Coffee?’

‘Please.’

‘Milk, sugar?’ Rick grunted, retrieving another mug from the cupboard. 

‘A little milk.’ Jack slid onto one of the tall stools on one side of the counter.

Rick pulled a carton of milk from the refrigerator and set it in front of Jack. ‘Don’t tell Suzanne I didn’t put it in the milk in the cow thingamajig.’

Jack’s mouth twisted in a wry smile. He knew Suzanne would react the same way as her son, with scandalized outrage at the lack of manners. He added a splash of milk to his mug and handed the carton back to Rick. ‘My lips are sealed.’ 

Rick poured coffee into Jack’s mug, then poured a mug for himself. ‘When’s your flight?’

‘Three.’ Jack tried to unobtrusively stretch his back. The bed in the Bittles’ guest room was adequate, but it wasn’t his. 

Rick nodded his head to the back door. ‘Porch?’

‘Okay.’ Jack slid off the stool and followed Rick to the side porch, grabbing his fleece from a hook by the door on the way out. The late December morning was crisp, with just enough bite to the air to remind him it was actually winter. 

‘So what do you do besides hockey?’ Rick sipped his coffee, taking a seat at the small table next to the door. 

Jack took in a deep breath. _ He’s just trying to get to know you… _‘I like fishing at our cottage during the summers.’

‘Fishing, huh?’ The expression on Rick’s face made Jack think he’d been expecting something a little more flashy. Or more exciting than sitting in a boat in the middle of a lake in Quebec, waiting for a fish to bite. 

Jack laughed quietly, sitting opposite Rick. ‘I’m kinda boring. Fishing, golf. I like World War II documentaries.’ His grin turned sheepish. ‘I was the only kid in the Q that couldn’t wait to watch the Ken Burns’ series about it.’

‘It was a good show.’ Rick peered at Jack over the rim of his mug. ‘Junior says you’re not allowed to play board games?’

Jack studied the dancing Santa on his mug. ‘Holster and I used to try and play sometimes. Y’know. Monopoly. Risk. Usually ended up with a board getting flipped. Holtzy and I are kinda competitive. We even argued over Snakes and Ladders on the bus to a roadie once.’ Rick nearly spewed coffee across the table. ‘Bits won’t even let me play Solitaire. I start scowling at the cards.’

Rick glanced at Jack. ‘Junior also told me you like _ Game of Thrones.’ _

Jack nodded. ‘I watched the last season on the treadmill.’

‘Suzanne doesn’t like it. Too much blood. Too many boobs.’ Rick set his mug on the table. ‘That Cersei… she’s a piece of work.’ Jack noted the phrasing Rick used. Bits might deny it, but there was a healthy dose of Rick in him.

Jack shook his head. ‘Still can’t believe she blew up the sept.’

‘Jaime shoulda left Riverrun with Brienne,’ Rick sighed. ‘Cersei’s bad news.’

Jack spread his arms out. ‘Jon Snow!’ He banged a fist lightly on the table. ‘I was never so glad to have hockey so I didn’t obsess over whether the bugger was alive or not.’

‘Read the books?’ Rick stretched his feet out in front of him.

‘Yeah. Read them on roadies.’ Jack took a sip of his cooling coffee. 'Like 'em better than the show.'

Rick finished his coffee and studied Jack for a long moment. ‘You’re not what I ever pictured for Junior.’

‘Thank you…?’

‘I imagine he’s not what you ever pictured for yourself,’ Rick commented.

Jack drained the last of his coffee. ‘No. He’s not.’ But Bitty understood him. Knew what made him tick. Kept Jack from living inside his head too much. Never wanted Jack to be anything other than himself. And if Jack walked away from hockey tomorrow, Bitty would still love him. The boring, dorky Jack Zimmerman that the rest of the world didn’t see. ‘You said I was good for him?’ Rick nodded. ‘He’s good for me, too.’

**Author's Note:**

> I read somewhere that Jack watches Game of Thrones. And I really wanted to highlight how similar Jack and Coach really are. 
> 
> And what better way to highlight two of my fandoms? lol!


End file.
